btw indie sleaze is already back, she's just brat: a socio-historical + economic analysis on hedonism, inflation, and culture
btw indie sleaze is already back, she's just brat: a socio-historical + economic analysis on hedonism, inflation, and culture
talking about the economy is hot, promise.
No one seems to be saying this, so I’m going to say the quiet part out loud: Indie Sleaze is to Millennials as brat is to gen z. And, even more silent, is the fact that both Indie Sleaze and brat thrive during periods of economic disillusionment - Indie Sleaze peaked following the 2008 recession, which is a similar timeline that exists for brat (dw we’ll be unpacking.. in depth! below).
Obviously, there will always be intergenerational tie-ins amongst older gen z and younger millennials, but you get the point. I’ve been hypothesizing culture’s nascent return to themes of hedonism for over a year (linking an instagram reel here). Then, there was a little less to hold on to, but my insights leveraged ancient philosophical theory on eudaemonia (flourishing in times of social/cultural austerity) and hedonism (the quasi roaring 2020s). This, paired with peer-reviewed theory on hedonic consumption, helped unpack what felt like a growing psychological appetite towards hedonism following the loud rise of 90s minimalism…. Aka the qu*et l*xury of it all. We’ll need to do a separate deep dive on this, in the context of our current coconut tree, but this background was necessary to set up the only mic drop that matters to me rn:
THE FED JUST LOWERED INTEREST RATES FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2020 !!!!!!!!
Before we get into how this ties into the brat x hedonism of it all, I’m going to provide a very brief, very zillennial summary on why this is so important, as one of the pivotal economic events of this decade. The highest summary is that when inflation is a big concern, The Fed increases interest rates to combat inflation by tightening spending and slowing the economy. Conversely, The Fed will lower interest rates to combat an increase in unemployment rates and boost consumer spending. Now that rates have been lowered (and will likely continue to lower in subsequent meetings), your boomer/ gen x dad will probably start (loudly) hinting that now’s the time to put down the matcha and start saving to buy… a property. Aka since lower rates typically make borrowing more affordable, which can boost a demand in the housing market, home ownership may feel slightly more in-reach for younger generations. For more context on how and why we got here, considering inflation still feels like a problem for consumers (your $10 latte is in the room w/ us….), keep reading. If you get the gist, or are like SPARE ME, skip the next three paragraphs lol.
econ x culture
You don’t need me to tell you that the past four years have been more chaotic than Teresa flipping the table (rhonj), Kelly x Bethenny on scary island (rhony), or what should have been an Emmy nominated performance of receipts/proof/timelines (rhoslc). We’ve obviously endured a global pandemic/lockdown, wide-scale layoffs across tech, hiring freezes impacting gen z’s ability to get jobs post-college, geopolitical crises (aka literal wars), climate crises, the threat to women’s bodily autonomy in the US….and I mean, I’m just scratching the surface. So it fully makes sense that the economy would start acting like, wait….. am i the drama??
In 2020, The Fed dramatically decreased interest rates to near-ZERO (huge), in an effort to stave off a feared economic shutdown during the throes of the pandemic. In this period of our economic history, we were delusionally lush. Spending was up, dopamine dressing was in, and we were psychologically effed but, on the whole, optimistic to go on that first holiday, spend aspirationally, and drink at a bar with friends.
But as you know, all good things come to an end. Once inflation started getting more volatile, recession fears became more prominent, and The Fed responded with an attempted soft landing – hiking rates to coax the economy into a more stable balance. And let me be clear, the United States economy has technically been in a great place this decade – remaining relatively stable by most economic measures. However, at the consumer level, we’ve seen grocery store prices increase by 25% since 2020, and have seen news coverage that continues to stoke this deep-seated, never-ending fear that a recession is looming. So when The Fed lowered interest rates by .5 percentage points, they were giving us a sign of potential ease and restoration.
In an excellent, digestible summary on what the rate decrease will mean to Americans via the Washington Post (by Taylor Telford and Julie Zauzmer Weil), experts cited that “Prices aren’t expected to go back to pre-pandemic levels. But the rate of growth will be more in line with norms of the past few decades”. This is effectively a womp womp on consumer prices returning to a pre-pandemic baseline, but, going macro, everyone seems optimistic about what this means for the future of Americans. The article goes on to cite Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM US, who stated: “This will improve the material well-being of all Americans…We had three years of extremely aggressive policy out of The Fed. We’re now pivoting toward the normalization of rates in the post-pandemic economy.” Also in the article was Michael Madowitz, the principal economist at the Roosevelt Institute, who said the rate cut will be “great news for the middle class.” I’m never going to be one to tell you what to think, so I acknowledge this could all feel like lip service to some (given cost of goods), and the best news to others, feel free to bring up your sentiment on this in our group chat or in the comments!!
back 2 brat, hedonism, et al
Now it starts to get really interesting. My dear friend and sage oracle, Mandy Lee (oldloserinbrooklyn), delivered a hero-level (and very viral) forecast on why Indie Sleaze WILL be back three years ago. Over the past two years, people have spent a lot of time discussing the idea of whether or not an Indie Sleaze comeback is actually happening, and when we’ll start to see its marked return. Understood, but like we should really start pivoting the discussion to the fact that Indie Sleaze is actually… in the room…with us… right now…. she’s just reincarnated as brat.
On that note, I’d like to formally announce a bid for charli xcx to be named on one of those “person of the year” lists, because her impact on culture, politics, and the consumer economy has been profound. While people have been waxing poetic about the fact that Indie Sleaze can’t possibly be back because we haven’t seen one Sienna Miller in glastonbury dupe, one olsen twin stumbling around the city dupe (in earnest), and certainly not one alexa chung dupe… we’re failing to consider that Indie Sleaze is inherently governed by millennials. These are people who, if old enough to have thoroughly engaged in peak Indie Sleaze culture, will proudly tell you (with the air of icon Chloe Sevingy) that they have largely been there, done that.
When we discuss culture and sub-culture, specifically when linked to adolescence, we need to remember who these aesthetics and lifestyles are meant to serve. Despite the inherent air of hedonism that encompasses Indie Sleaze culture (especially interesting when marked against the 2008 recession then… and brat coinciding with the rate decrease now..), any millennial will tell you Indie Sleaze was never meant to be a profitable and luxurious axis of culture. In its purest sense, Indie Sleaze simply existed as a way of life that was increasingly appealing for those screwed over by the state of the economy when they graduated from college. It was a lifestyle (one of the OG “cores”..sorry) that rapidly proliferated within culture in a way that has now become memorialized as peak “remember when”. And its timely comeback as brat is the tonal brilliance of the charli xcx universe: the alex consani of it all, the addison rae x cigarette feet photography of it all, and the gen z tumblr resurgence..of it all.
The Cut’s brilliant Danya Issawi touched on Indie Sleaze in a different way in this article. Gen Z doesn’t want to outright claim Indie Sleaze because it also feels kinda.. Sleazy. Gen Z is, on the whole, a different generation than millennials, their appetite bends less towards 2011 twitter fingers and more towards intentionality and inclusivity. That doesn’t disparage millennials and Indie Sleaze, because gen z obviously idolizes it, but they don’t necessarily feel as though it neatly encapsulates who they are relative to the world they exist within. I think the best example (teacher plotline aside), would be Gossip Girl – OG (2007) vs the reboot (2021). For example, Chuck Bass did some dark sh*t, and I don’t think we really talk about how uncomfortable some of those scenes are to re-watch now. Maybe in an attempt to right the wrongs (or appeal to Gen Z) the reboot was pro-inclusivity, pro-influencer x activist, and addressed the ramifications of cancel culture, yet… it still attempted the OG arc of hot, very very rich kids who do dr*gs, lie, cheat, and manipulate their way through the 11th grade. The show got canceled, so it’s clear it didn’t really hit the mark, but I think it strongly speaks to the conclusions drawn by hbo and what I can only assume were buckets of dollars spent on age-group testing to decipher the values that are core to Gen Z.
So while some of us were spending time on the pirate’s ship looking for American Apparel to help signal “Indie Sleaze…we’re sooo back”, charli xcx stepped up and gave us brat. In all the ways that I’ve described Indie Sleaze, I hope you’re also picking up on the subliminal context of why brat resonates with the gen z consumer. There’s the OG air of hedonism and a flippant idgaf (esp given parallel economic/generational paradigms!)…but also brat is rooted in i go to therapy and even when reckless, im in touch with my emotions. Many a theorist would tell you that any good analysis also references IRL sub-groups/in-group formation as a signal, and to them, I offer the opportunity to observe the brat axis of bushwick to dimes square. On a geographical note (nyc), the ex-Indie Sleaze millennials with slight brat proclivities have graduated to the nine orchard as their epicenter, spending time bouncing between corner bar, kallmeyer, and beverly’s.
Now that we’ve aligned on brat, Indie Sleaze, and the economic parallels affecting cultural interest amongst gen z vs millennials, it’s time to more overtly discuss hedonism. Over the past year, we’ve been observing the cultural rise of the anti-clean girl, eff it i’ll zyn (nic in general), s3x (displayed in aesthetics of dressing - sheer, reds, animal prints, underwear as pants), and cigarettes as a niche status symbol (irl/tumblr/insta stories/dumps). Gen Z has expressed a disdain for quiet luxury and all of her austerity in more ways than one. And there’s at least, at a psychological level, interest in living to live, in spite of all of the insane things happening globally, economically, and politically. Which is interesting, because Marketplace recently noted that gen Z are “recession babies” (born 1995 - 2010) who have a scarcity mindset akin to the GI Generation (those who came of age during the great depression).
And really, when you zoom out, isn’t being brat way cheaper than being sofia richie? It’s brilliant economics, because if you’re 22 and want to optimize for having the most fun with the least capital, are you going to idolize summers in Saint Tropez and Positano, or drug store makeup, cheap(ish) vices, and disposable cameras?
I’ll leave you here with a few questions to dig into – what do we think this means for what’s to come? Do we foresee a doubling down in brat, or slight pivots and shifts? Does every generation have an Indie Sleaze/brat akin to a coming of age? What do you think gen alpha’s skibbidy will care about? What other intersections would you introduce to this analysis - whether on culture, evolving consumer trends in fashion/beauty, or our evolving (maybe toxic) relationship with algorithmic “in-groups” via tiktok and instagram and tumblr in place of irl community?? Let’s chat more in the comments, and if you’re really about this life, let’s dig in via our groupchat. ILY!! Cant wait to talk more!!
TM x
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Quick, unrelated thoughts:
I read a fascinating article yesterday via the Financial Times (by Eleanor Olcott and Wang Xueqiao) on how China’s venture economy is collapsing. With everything being reported on growing concerns around luxury’s slump in China, knowing that Chinese consumers serve as a critical lever for luxury’s profitability globally, I’m curious to see how this continues to impact the economic/growth slowdown we’re currently experiencing within the luxury economy. I’m also curious to see if brands continue to lean into programming and designing with a more global customer in mind (APJ+ ME(N)A), or if we’ll start to see euro-core being at the forefront of what’s to come. Stay tuned!!
Works Cited:
Hedonic vs utilitarian consumption, Sungeun (Ange) Kim and Jungkeun Kim, 2014
Vogue x Quiet Luxury is a duuuupe, Laird Borrelli-Persson, 2023
Vogue x Indie Sleaze debate, Hannah Jackson & Christian Allaire, 2024
The Cut x where are the girls that do dr*gs, Danya Issawi, 2024
Marketplace x Gen Z, the economy, and scarcity, Kristin Schwab, 2024
Financial Times x China’s venture slowdown, Eleanor Olcott & Wang Xueqiao, 2024
housekeeping//p.s.
ALSO, based on discussion in our illustrious groupchat, we have changed the trademarked posting schedule from Thursday/Sunday to Monday/Friday. Technically, Mondays are meant to be the intellectual day and Fridays are meant to be our shopping day. I will find a way to fix the cadence (either two shopping letters next week, or another, ha!, intellectual deep dive on Monday and then a shopping letter on Friday… lmk what you prefer!!).
THANK YOU SO MUCH for being here - so far, this has been the greatest joy to do with all of you <3
I think you absolutely nailed that 'brat' is absolutely Gen-Z's indie sleaze. Even if we think about the soar in popularity of 'the dare'; he's so quintessentially indie sleaze it hurts. He screams 2014; a hint of the 1975, arctic monkeys, even the way he dresses, his hairstyle, songs glorifying partying and hedonistic behavior and so forth. Love your analysis, as per usual.
my econ meets culture girlie brain is v happy. this is great !